March 27, 2006

Wyoming crash in blizzard conditions kills at least 6, I-80 closed; Hurricane Rita not as strong as first thought, report says; More rain: Storm due to hit Bay Area Mon.; Heavy rain may hit D/FW Monday night, Tuesday; Mo. farmers address tornado damage; Rain possible on Mon. in Okla., more likely later in the week; Time: The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame; Record low temperatures at Palm Beach Int’l Airport

New Left-Nav Menu: Finally, a small site announcement: The left navigation menu has been updated to provide a breakdown of city pages by state and then city. Hopefully you will find the new menu easier to use.

March 19, 2006

Dallas/Fort Worth flooding: Some areas see more than 9 inches of rain; Winter storm warnings cover several Plains states; Hawaiian island braces for more heavy rain; Thousands flee Australia’s ‘Hurricane Katrina’; FEMA may ask for some hurricane aid money back; Hurricane poll: Worry, readiness high in Ala.; Report: La. more insured than any other state for flooding; Okla. leads nation in tornado damage; New radar system takes guesswork out of twisters

‘It Could Happen Tomorrow’: San Diego-Area Wildfire Review: Airing Sunday evening, the San Diego-area wildfire episode of “It Could Happen Tomorrow” takes a look at the destruction a massive wildfire would cause if it were to rage from 30 miles east of San Diego all the way to the affluent La Jolla and the Pacific Ocean within 36 hours.

The episode includes interviews with residents who mention their greater fear of a tsunami than wildfires, but the show uses footage from 2003 to show that a wildfire could prove more destructive. In the fall of 2003, a wildfire burned to within 10 miles of San Diego, and destroyed thousands of homes before winds from the southeast shifted.

The show suggests “it could happen tomorrow” if those Santa Ana winds persist for a few days, and explains the amount of evacuation time residents would have. Focusing on the Scripps Ranch and La Jolla subdivisions, the episode also offers plenty of wildfire video from recent years and commentary from experts.

In this year of drought and wildfires from the Southwest to the East Coast, the episode offers useful information. One tip: Don’t go for the garden hose, hoist yourself up on the roof and play firefighter. As one expert noted, he doesn’t know of any home that’s more valuable than a life.

The 30-story Landmark Tower, built in the 1950s and the tallest building in Fort Worth at the time [1958 pic/more old photos], was brought down at 7:40 a.m. Saturday, 20 minutes early because of a nearby storm. A revolving clock on its roof quit working in 1988. Images of the dust cloud, left after the largest-ever implosion in Texas, were taken from Sylvania in N. Fort Worth.